Blog Post

Muḥarram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. While the first day of the month is celebrated as New Year’s Day among the Muslims, the tenth day of this month is the period of mourning, where the Shia Muslim community commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussain Ibn Ali, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad. It is considered to be the first of the four sacred months in Islam.

The legend of Karbala:

The history of Muharram goes back to the battle of Karbala in 680 AD, when Hussain Ibn Ali fought the army of Umayyad Caliph, Yazid I, and was killed in the war along with his family and followers.

The tenth day of Muharram is called Ashura. This is the most important day as it is said that Hussain and his family were deprived of water from the 7th day of the battle and were finally killed on the tenth day. The mourning of Muharram was started by the surviving women members of Hussain’s family who were taken captive by the caliph. They wore black clothes and made speeches against the caliph for murdering Hussain and other members of their family.

The Mourning Rituals: Pilgrimage, Weeping, and fasting

Every year, the Shia Muslim community around the world commemorates the mourning custom of death of Imam Hussain and his family in the month of Muharram. They honor the martyrs by prayers and abstain from any joyful events to pay their respect to the sacrifice of Hussain. Public processions are performed in commemoration of the Battle of Karbala. In Iran, the battle scenes of Karbala are performed on stage in a ritual called taziya. In India however, word taziya is used to mean coffins and replicas of Hussein’s tomb carried in processions. The participants parade barefoot through the streets, wailing and beating their chests and heads. Some people also use chains and knives to cut themselves up to inflict physical pain.

Many Shia Muslims go on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Hussain ibn Ali in Karbala, Iraq. They believe that pilgrimage to Hussain ibn Ali’s shrine and taking part in the mourning rituals like weeping or beating themselves up will save them from being condemned to hell on the day of judgment and they will attain salvation through these activities.

On the other hand, the Sunni Muslim community observe fast on the tenth day of Muharram. The practice of fasting during Ashura stems from the hadith. Sunni Muslims believe that fasting on the day of Ashura will help them atone for the sins committed during the previous year.

Does the Holy Quran allow these rituals?

The practices of mourning, weeping, or pilgrimage are nowhere mentioned in the Holy Quran. The ritual of fasting that originated from hadith is not the order of Allah. Just as the consumption of meat, if allowed in hadith, is not Allah’s order.

Prophet Mohammad was such a pious soul. He never consumed meat, never missed a prayer(namaz), never lied or hurt any soul, yet he died a very painful death. All of his sons died before him. His grandson Hussain Ibn Ali whom he considered as his own son was killed in the battle. Why were they not saved by Allah? Because their way of worship was not correct. If they suffered such tragedies, how could their followers attain salvation through activities not allowed in the Holy Quran?

The correct way of worship given in the Holy Quran:

In Surah Al Furqan 25:58, the God of Prophet Muhammad refers to some other Supreme God and asks him to sing the glory of Allah Kabir, who is immortal, worthy of being worshipped and is the destroyer of all the sins of his worshippers.

In Surah Al Furqan 25:59, The narrator of Holy Quran is asking Prophet Muhammad to seek a Bakhabar (one who is fully acquainted with the knowledge of God – A Tattavdarshi Saint) and ask him the way to attain Allah Kabir, the most merciful God, as the narrator has no knowledge about Him.

Through these verses, the narrator of the Holy Quran makes it clear that

Allah is Kabir and he is the only one worthy of being worshipped.

Allah Kabir destroys the sins of his devotees.

Allah Kabir is the most merciful.

To attain Allah one must seek a Bakhabar(a saint who is acquainted with the knowledge of God) i.e. One must find a Bakhabar and by taking initiation from him worship the supreme God – Allah Kabir. Only then, the merciful Allah(Kabir) destroys all our sins and save us from every harm. This is the only way to salvation.

As soon as the true mantras were given by a true saint, all the sins were destroyed like the dried grass burned down by fire.

How to identify a Bakhabar:

In Holy Quran Surah 42, Aayat 1, the narrator of the Holy Quran has told the three codewords(Aan Sin Kaaf) to attain the Almighty Allah Kabir. These three mantras are mentioned in the Holy Gita Ji, chapter 17:23 too.

According to both these scriptures, only a True Saint/Bakhabar will reveal the secret of these three mantras. He will be acquainted with true spiritual knowledge which no other saint would have given before him. He will reveal the correct way of worship according to the scriptures that will lead the devotees to salvation.

Today, Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj is the only saint who fulfills the criteria of a true saint. He has proved from our holy scriptures that Kabir Saheb is the supreme God/Allah. He is the only saint who gave knowledge of the creation of nature and revealed Satyanaam(true mantras) to the world. One could be free from all our sins and attain salvation only after taking initiation from Saint Rampal ji Maharaj because he is the true representative of Allah Kabir.

This Muharram, we humbly request you to read, listen and understand the complete spiritual knowledge given by Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj and recognize the true God. As we get human life only once after many millenniums, it’s our duty to seek Allah and attain salvation because this is the main purpose of human life.